Verizon CEO: We Will Offer Apple's iPhone 'Eventually'

Verizon Wireless customers aren't the only ones who want to see Apple's (AAPL) wildly popular iPhone on their network: Verizon (VZ) CEO Ivan Seidenberg wants a piece of the iPhone action as well.

This week, Seidenberg said Verizon has informed Apple that it wants to offer the iPhone to its customers. Seidenberg's remarks were made in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday cited by Reuters.

Seidenberg said that while the decision to roll out a Verizon-compatible iPhone is up to Apple, he thinks his company will ultimately be able to offer the product.

"Eventually it's our view we'll get to carrying Apple," Seidenberg said.

Verizon iPhone: 2010 or 2011?

Last week, The Wall Street Journalreported that Apple is preparing two new iPhone models, one of which could be compatible with Verizon Wireless's CDMA network. Such a development would end three years of AT&T (T) iPhone exclusivity.

Verizon Wireless is the largest mobile carrier in the U.S. and has been particularly aggressive in marketing phones based on Google's (GOOG) Android operating system. Most analysts think it's only a matter of time before Verizon gets the iPhone -- but opinion is split as to whether the device will appear late this year, or early next year.

In its report, The Journal said a Taiwan-based manufacturer named Pegatron "is scheduled to start mass-producing the CDMA iPhones in September, but it was unclear when Apple might make the model available."

Last week, Mark McKechnie, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech, released a note on BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIMM), introducing a fiscal year 2012 earnings estimate of $6.25 a share, "which factors in an iPhone launch" at Verizon Wireless in early 2011.